China to US: Back off Taiwan -- or else

The United States on Friday announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, vowing to keep boosting the island’s defenses as tensions soar with Beijing, which warned Washington of ‘counter-measures’ if the deal was not stopped.

China, calling Taiwan an ‘inalienable’ part of its territory, said the United States to should ‘immediately revoke’ the arms sales.

‘It sends wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces and severely jeopardizes China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,’ said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington.

‘China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation,’ he said.